Garment bag



July 13, 1943.

B. J. FROST 2,324,072

GARMENT BAG I Filedvllay 1, 1941 Patented July 13, 1943 GARMENT BAGBernard J. Frost, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Transparent Cover Company,Chicago, 111., a copartnership composed of Bernard J. Frost and MorrisSimon Application May 1,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to containers and particularly to a novel andimproved construction for a garment bag.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedconstruction for a garment bag whereby the garments may be quickly andeasily inserted within the bag or removed therefrom.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a novel andimproved construction for a garment bag whereby the bag will be easy toassemble and disassemble.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedconstruction for a garment bag whereby the sliding closure meansprovided may be readily manipulated.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a novelconstruction for a garment ba which will enable bags to be cut fromstandard size material with a minimum of waste.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel featuresof construction, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter fullydescribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and particularlypointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that variouschanges in the form, proportion, size and minor details of the structuremay be made without departing from the spirit companying drawing apreferred embodiment thereof, from an inspection of which, whenconsidered in connection with the following description, my invention,its mode of construction, assembly and operation, and many of itsadvantages should be readily understood and appreciated.

Referring to the drawing in which the same characters of reference areemployed to indicate corresponding or similar parts throughout theseveral figures of the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a garment bag showing my new invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the garment bag taken alongthe line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and in the direction indicated.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken through the bag on the line3-3 of Fig. 1 and in the direction indicated.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the upper framework of the garment bagwith the outer covering shown in broken lines.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken through one of the means ofthe garment bag generally along the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

The garment bag is generally constructed in 1941, Serial No. 391,284

the well known maner, comprising a large substantially air tight bagwhich can be hung upon a rod or the like and having means whereby aplurality of garments may be accommodated and hung therein. The bag isintended to be used as a dust protector or even for the fumigation ormoth-proofing of articles.

The reference character In designates gener ally the front wall of thebag which is identical with the rear wall I I in construction. Saidfront wall consists of two strips of material, a broad strip [2 and anarrow strip l3. The side walls I4 and 15 of the bag are constructedfrom the conventional rectangular strips of material. All edges of thebag are bound in tape and sewed in the usual and well known manner.

The bottom of the bag consists of an outer stiffening member N5 of oilcloth or the like which extends slightly outwards from the bag and towhich the walls of the bag are attached at the bottom thereof with theusual taping, binding, and/0r sewing. Within the bottom of the bag andlying upon the lower portion I6, I provide a heavy cardboard orfibre-board I! for stiffening purposes. If desired, a rectangular wireframe may be inserted in the bottom of the bag.

The upper ends of the walls of the bag are generally fastened in theusual manner to a top stiffening member 20 of the same material fromwhich the member [6 is constructed. The upper member is formed in twopieces, a larger portion I8 which is attached to the side wall M, theportion l2 of the front wall I0, and the portion of the rear wall I Iwhich corresponds to the portion l2 of the front wall; and a smallerportion [9 which is fastened to the upper end of the portion I3, theside wall 15, and the narrow .portion of the rear wall H whichcorresponds to the portion l3 of the front wall. The member 20, andhence each of its constituent portions l8 and I9, is provided withdownwardly depending portions 2I about the edge thereof and to which thebody of the bag is fastened.

From the bottom of the bag to a point approximately a third of the wayup the side, the portions I2 and 13 are joined by means of a narrowstrip of material 22 which is held in place by the lines of stitching23. The portions corresponding to l2 and 13 of the rear wall II are alsoprovided with a similar strip. The width of the strip 22 issubstantially the same as the width across the retaining straps of aslidable closure 24 which is installed in the bag as a continuation ofthe strip 22. The closure extends uninterruptedly from the upper end ofthe strip 22 on one face of the wall I!) up to the top of the bag,extends across the member 20, dividing it into its component parts l8and i9 and continuing down the rear wall ll of the bag to the top of thestrip on that wall corresponding to the strip 22 of the front wall l0.

When the sliding closure is in closed condition, the bag maintains theunitary parallelepipedal form, but when the closure 24 is opened, theentire upper side section of the .bag may be moved downward as shown inthe broken lines of Fig. I giving immediate and complete access to theentire interior of the bag and its contents.

from or positioned within the bag with a minimum of manipulation.

The upper member 20 is provided with a rectangular frame or stiffeningmember 25 positioned interiorly thereof and substantially conforming tothe shape thereof. The member 25 is preferably formed of wire. Thelonger sides 26 of the wire member 25 are provided with crimps orV-shaped indentations 2'! which are positioned at the point of themember 25 where the closure 24 passes over same. The crimps 21 extenddownwardly and inwardly as seen from Fig. 3 so that the closure may befreely manipulated while the frame member 26 is maintaining itsrectangular stiffening shape.

A cross member 28 is connected between the long sides 26 of the framemember 25 at the center thereof and is provided with a plurality ofcrimps or undulations 29 for the accommodation of garment hangers 30within the bag. Preferably the free ends of the member 28 are curledaround the sides 26, as shown at 3i. A pair of large hooks 32 arepivotally attached to the cross member 23 by means of the sleeves 33which are fixed to the attached ends of said hooks and which are mountedon straight portions provided therefor on the cross member 28.

The entire bag is adapted to be supported from an appropriate overheadrod or the like by means of these hooks 32, hence the upper member 20 isprovided with pair of large grommets 34 aligned with the bodies of thehooks 32 when same are in an upright position, the hooks being adaptedto be inserted through said grommets 34.

By reason of the manner in which the bag can be widely opened, theentire frame member 25 and the attached hooks 32 may be easily removed,facilitating disassembly of the bag. It is also a simple matter toassemble the bag when desired.

The strip construction of my garment bag has enabled the bag to beconstructed with a minimum of waste of material. For example, in theconstruction of bags of the size 20 x 8" X 60 it has heretofore takenfrom 38 to 39 yards of 36 wide material to construct one dozen bags.With my new strip construction and manner of opening the bag, the samenumber of bags can be constructed from about 34 yards of the samematerial.

As to the substance from which the bag is made, it may be formed of anyfabric, cloth, paper, Cellophane, or acetate material. The onlyrequirements of the material are that it enable sufficient protection ofthe garments to be afforded for moth-proofing, storage, dust-proofing,etc.

It is believed that my invention, its mode of construction and assembly,and many of its advantages should be readily understood from theforegoing without further description, and it Thus garments may beeasily and quickly removedshould also be manifest that while a preferredembodiment of the invention has been shown and described forillustrative purposes, the structural details are nevertheless capableof wide variation within the purview of my invention as defined in theappended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesis:

1. In a garment bag comprising a rectangular parallelepipedalflat-topped container of substantially greater breadth than thickness, aslide fastener spaced from one edge thereof and extendinguninterruptedly from a point on the front wall of the bag up to the topof the bag, across the top of the bag, and down the rear wall to a pointthereon, whereby when the fastener is in aclosed condition the bag ismaintained closed on all sides, but when the fastener is in an opencondition the section of the bag defined between said slide fastenerandsaid edge of the bag may be moved awayfrom the remainder of the baggiving access to the interior of the bag and the contents thereof, thetop of said bag having a frame member for stiffening same, said framemember having portions thereof indented at points where same is crossedby said slide fastener whereby said slide fastener may be freelyoperated.

2. A garment bag having front and rear walls, sidewalls, and top andbottom walls, said front and rear walls each comprising a pair ofvertically arranged strips of flexible material joined to the bottomwall and to one another up to a point a given distance above the bottomwall, said bottom wall comprising a single member and having said stripsattached thereto and the two side walls attached at ends thereof, thetop wall comprising a pair of sections, one section having one strip ofeach pair and one of the side walls attached thereto, and the othersection of the top wall having the other strip of each pair and theother side wall attached thereto, said bag being partially separable bymoving one section of the top wall away from the other to thereby giveaccess to the interior of the bag, the unattached portions of saidstrips and said sections of said top wall being normally fastened to oneanother by slide fastener means extending uninterruptedly from saidpoint on the front wall up to the top wall, across the top wall, anddown to the corresponding point on the rear wall, said top wall having asingle frame member reenforcing same and having portions thereofindented adjacent points thereof which are crossed by said fastenerwhereby said fastener may be freely operated.

3. In a garment bag of the character described and having asubstantially fiat rectangular top,

a slide fastener provided in said bag and adapted to pass from the frontwall up to and across the top of the bag and down the rear wall'thereofto permit a section of' said bag to be moved to one side thereof foraccess to the bag when said slide fastener is opened, arigidintegralframe member of a shape conforming to the contours of said top of thebag and reenforcing same and maintaining same in constant planardisposition and having portions thereof bent inwardly where corners arecrossed by said slide fastener to permit ready 'operation thereof, saidportions being each bent in a plane askew to the top of the bag.

BERNARD'J. FROST.

